I recently picked up a couple of yellow labs from walmart (of all places) because they looked cute, I wanted to start a cichlid tank, and we don't have any LFS that isn't as big a chain as Walmart here.

I eyeballed them and took what I suspected were 1m and 1f from coloring, though I know that's only a best guess on sexing labs. Recently one of them (the one I suspected was female) has started burrowing in the sand around some decor river stones. She never strays further than a few body lengths from her little burrow, but the suspected male ranges all over the tank.

Is the burrowing normal behaviour for females doing their girl business, or just normal everyday behaviour? Might she be laying eggs in her little dugout cave? If it IS a girl, and she IS pregnant, chances are good that her fry won't be offspring of the other lab in the tank, as there were a couple dozen labs in the store tank. Would that be an issue? Will the other one kill fry that isn't his own?

The yellows will eat the fry when/if she spits regardless. It is normal for them to dig, not necessarily a result of breeding. If she is holding you will soon be able to tell as her mouth will seem full and she will not eat.

No signs yet. She seems mostly to hide in or around her burrow, or in the cave she's claimed. The other one tends to just go where he pleases, picking at surfaces for food or following me around as I walk around.

sounds just like the 2 i had once. one dug caves in pots often and the other wud swimaround doing his own thing. the one diging tho wudnt eat. i traded them away, which i kind of regret because later i released theone thatwasnt eating prob was holding. the only reason i dont fully regret it is i got 2 severums which i like better and fit in better with the ohter ca and sa cichlids i keep. like zagz said, id watch to see if one stops eating.

A female L. caeruleus will look something like this if she is carrying eggs. You will see that her lower jaw area becomes distended to hold the large amount of eggs she is holding. She will cease eating for 3-4 weeks and tend to hide a lot. The eggs will hatch after 10-14 days and she will carry the live fry in her mouth until they are capable of swimming on their own. It is fascinating to watch.

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